Premier acknowledges carbon tax will punish Nova Scotians at the pumps, and blames full on Ottawa

The Progressive Conservative government recognizes the additional hardship Nova Scotians will face with the introduction on July 1 of a carbon tax that will translate into an extra 14.31 cents per liter at petrol stations.

Prime Minister Tim Houston says he still hopes the federal tax will be repealed and that his administration has already taken steps to make life more affordable for cash-strapped Nova Scotians.

“We still hope that in the next two weeks the federal government will come to its senses and recognize that their carbon tax is merely a punishment for Nova Scotians and will not help the planet,” Houston said in a media availability Thursday.

“The Atlantic Prime Ministers are resolved and we shared with the federal government the determination to tackle climate change,” he said. “The Atlantic Prime Ministers and Prime Ministers across the country opposed the federal government’s carbon tax. It will have a devastating impact on Nova Scotians and it will really do nothing to help the environment.”

The Prime Minister said that you can be in favor of tackling climate change and against the carbon tax at the same time.

“The changes that are going to happen on Canada Day will be devastating to many struggling families, it will drive up the cost of everything. It is remarkable to me that the federal government is going ahead with this carbon tax, which they say they don’t understand the full impact it will have on families.”

Houston said his administration has submitted a plan to the federal Liberal government to simultaneously address climate change and protect Nova Scotia’s taxpayers.

The Prime Minister said the PC government has also done a number of things to support affordability for Nova Scotians, pointing to the senior care allowance, childcare and measures such as the home heating discount.

Liberal leader Zach Churchill was joined earlier this week by nine caucus members who hosted a press conference to decry the government’s inaction in helping Nova Scotians as the carbon tax is about to be levied at the gas pumps and at the door for heating fuel.

The liberal caucus says the county government had a chance to make a better deal with the federal government, but it squandered it and now it’s too late to turn back the carbon tax clock.

“I’ve heard the point of view that Zach (Churchill) is putting forward and I have to say I don’t really know if he’s just outright lying or if he just doesn’t get it,” said Houston. “The reality is that the department did a thorough analysis and looked at the options and continuing with a cap-and-trade just wasn’t an option. It just couldn’t happen.”

Churchill and the Liberal caucus suggested three things the government could do immediately to offset the inevitable shock to the pumps.

“One is cutting income taxes, which will allow Nova Scotians to keep more money in their pockets,” Churchill said. “Two, freezing the provincial portion of the gas tax (currently a flare rate of 15.5 cents per liter of petrol and 15.4 cents per liter of diesel) to reduce the impact of carbon prices at the pumps and three, to universal lunch program in our schools to help those working families cope with rising food prices.”

NDP leader Claudia Chender said the government has not done the job on behalf of Nova Scotians to come up with a carbon pricing option other than the pending tax.

“When the deadline came and went for the Houston government to present their own price for carbon and create a plan for how to get there and they failed to do that, it is the result of the government partisan battles over constructive talks,” Chender said.

“In the meantime, I think it’s the government’s job to find a way to help cushion the frightening rise in the cost of living that Nova Scotians are struggling with.”

Chender said the NDP has made several suggestions to do that.

“They (government) have increased the residential heating rebate program once,” she said. “We believe that the threshold should be raised again and indexed to inflation. We have been calling on the government for the past year to freeze premiums for senior citizens and family medicines, which are especially acute at this time of year when the fiscal year is over and people have to pay more. We know that people choose between medicine and food.”

The NDP has also called on the government to reduce the tax on groceries to ensure that anything sold in a grocery store is not taxed.

“This (carbon tax) is something that we knew was coming and the government just didn’t act adequately enough to prevent and now Nova Scotians will pay the price at the pump.”

Bruce Cheadle, a spokesman for the federal environment secretary, said in an email this week that Nova Scotia previously had a cap-and-trade system with weak stringency, resulting in a carbon price of about 1.1 cents per year. liter of gasoline.

He said the federal fuel tax in Nova Scotia will be the same rate as all other provinces and territories using the federal (carbon tax) system, but Nova Scotia’s July 1 incremental increase will account for almost the entire carbon price.

The carbon tax for gasoline will be 14.31 cents per liter in Nova Scotia and 17.39 cents per liter for diesel and light fuel oil, including heating oil.

Cheadle said the federal rebate program will have refunds in Nova Scotians’ bank accounts or mailboxes two weeks after the July 1 hike.

The federal ministry says a family of four will receive quarterly payments of $248 every three months and the majority of Nova Scotians will get more money back than they pay in carbon taxes.

In a March report, federal parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux refuted claims that it would be better, finding that Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador would follow the same trajectory as other Canadian provinces, representing a net loss for most individuals and households. average when the carbon tax and incentive rebate program are implemented.